


More Surprising than Others

by flintxwood



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, can also be argued each couple kinda sorta represents acceptance of queer people, in which mcgonagall watches some gay couples
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 00:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9408620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintxwood/pseuds/flintxwood
Summary: McGonagall had seen a lot of couples in her life but she had to admit some were surprising where others weren't.





	

Minerva McGonagall liked to think she was slightly good at picking up on couples. Since Hogwarts was a place that put teenage boys and girls together, it was predictable couples would form. Eyes were usually kept on them to make sure they didn’t go beyond snogging, the enchanted staircase for the girls’ dormitory only did so much. 

What she didn’t expect was other couples making their way through. She’d admit she felt pretty foolish for not thinking about it. 

The first she noticed was Lupin and Black. She first noticed in 1975, Black resting his head in Lupin’s lap, Lupin running his fingers through his hair. She thought nothing of it initially, thinking it was nothing but a friendly gesture between close friends. She didn’t think anything of never seeing Black and Potter doing the same gesture. 

She remembered one night in 1977, she was walking through the corridors when she saw Peeves flying through it, looking scandalised. 

“Professor! You’d never believe what I saw!” he exclaimed, a grin on his face.

“What is it, Peeves?” she grumbled. 

He giggled. “I just saw two naughty boys snogging!” 

She looked at him. She didn’t expect that. It wasn’t past curfew but most people were usually make in the common room by now. It was 9:40 so whoever those two boys were better get to their common room soon.

She continued to walk down the corridor and as the turned the corner she saw Lupin and Black, both with their faces flushed and supressing their laughter as Black pulled Lupin by his arm. 

“What are you two doing?” 

They froze and turned to McGonagall, standing straight.

“We were just in the library, ma’am,” Black said, flashing a smile.

Lupin nodded quickly. “We were uh… just getting back to the common room now.” 

She watched them for a moment then nodded. “Okay, better be fast; it’s almost curfew.”

Lupin nodded and Black grabbed his wrist, pulling him down the corridor. She looked at the two and smiled fondly.

…

Probably the most confusing instances happened in 1993. She knew inter-house relationships happened but what she encountered by accident was probably the most surprising. 

McGonagall was walking past the Quidditch pitch’s change rooms, always being a fan of walking around the pitch when it was empty. She always loved the Quidditch pitch, ever since her mum took her to her first game when she was five. 

As she passed the change room she saw two people stumble out of it, both seeming like they were trying not to be caught. When McGonagall realised it was Flint and Wood her eyes widened. She’d had this job long enough to know what it looked like when the students were trying to look like they weren’t just snogging. She decided to let them feel like they weren’t caught. That is until both boys saw her. 

“Fuck!” she heard Wood mutter. Wood gave her his best smile. “Hi professor!” 

“Hello Wood, Flint, discussing Quidditch a presume?”

“Uh yes!” Wood said, looking frantically at Flint. 

Flint nodded quickly. “We thought in the name of… uh good sportsmanship we would make a pact to play fairly,” he spoke quickly, stumbling over his words as he spoke. Both were blushing like mad, like they knew McGonagall had caught on to what they were really doing. 

“Well, that’s good,” she said. “But you better get back inside, I’m sure you have homework,” her eyes fell on Flint. “I’m sure you don’t want to get held back again, Flint.”

Flint nodded and mumbled something before running off. When he was gone, McGonagall looked at Wood whose face was still flushed. She smiled at him. “I’m sure you have homework too, Wood.”

He nodded and ran off, running to Flint and pushing him in a playful manner. Flint put him in a headlock and they both laughed. She smiled as she watched them.

…

She noticed how inseparable Thomas and Finnigan were since their first year. They were always together, whether it be sitting together in class or studying together in the common room. They were inseparable to the point where they were almost one person. 

Around the end of the school year in 1997 her eyes caught the pair holding hands as they walked into the great hall. The two teenagers’ nerves were written all over their faces. But when they found their friends to sit with, they were met with nothing more than a shrug and a smile, something they seemed to be relieved by. McGonagall smiled at the pair. After her years of watching other students pair off romantically, Thomas and Finnigan were by far the least surprising, they worked together well. 

When the pair were separated a few months later during the war, she could see the toll it took on Seamus. He was usually excitable, talking a mile a minute, and almost bouncing off the walls. He seemed to have lost that spark. There was no reason to be happy in the situation they were all in, but she’d seen him multiple times turn to his side to an empty chair, clearly expecting Dean to be there, his shoulders falling when he would realise he wasn’t. Longbottom, who was always next to him those days, would say something to him whenever he would turn to an empty seat, likely words of comfort. 

When she saw Seamus’s reaction to seeing Dean that May after not seeing him for almost a year, his loud roar of delight caught her attention and saw Seamus run to Dean, hugging him tightly. Dean squeezed him back, kissing the top of his head. She’d smiled at that, she could understand the outright joy seeing each other, especially in the situation they were in.

In 2017 when she read the name Elizabeth Thomas-Finnigan on the list of first years, she couldn’t stop the fond smile on her lips. 

…

Potter’s son and Malfoy’s son looked too much like their fathers. There was little to differentiate them from when their fathers were that age. Albus’s only differences were his Slytherin robes, and the absence of glasses and an infamous lighting scar. Scorpius’s only differentiation was his shy nature, an opposite to his father. 

Their immediate friendship surprised her. While their fathers had made amends in their adult lives, it was strange seeing two boys who looked so much like their fathers be as close they were. 

One day in 2022 when she walked into the Hog’s Head Inn with Longbottom, giving his wife Hannah a kiss on the cheek before they got a table, she noticed in the dark corner Albus and Scorpius sharing a butterbeer. She looked at two for a moment, how they were looking lovingly at each other, and smiled. She’d noticed them sitting closely in the great hall, giving her suspicions their relationship had something deeper but the confirmation was a nice thing to have. 

Weird how those who coupled together were either the most obvious or the most surprising.


End file.
